EPIDEMIOLOGY OF SARCOIDOSIS IN CATALONIA - 1979-1989

For the purpose of estimating the incidence rate and clinico-epidemiol ogical characteristics of sarcoidosis in Catalonia (a country comprisi ng the provinces of Barcelona, Tarragona, Lleida and Girona, with a to tal population of 6 million people), we did a retrospective study of n ew cases diagnosed in the country's qualified hospitals during 1979 an d the three-year period from 1986 to 1988. The annual incidence rate i n the province of Barcelona was 1.2/100,000 in 1979 and 1.5/100,000 in 1988. 245 cases were diagnosed in Catalonia in the three-year period covering 1986-88, the annual incidence rate being 1.36/100,000 inhabit ants. We describe here the characteristics of this series of 245 cases (which is the first one representative of the whole of Catalonia), an d compare them with those of other series published previously. We con clude that the incidence of sarcoidosis in our country is one of the l owest in Europe, with no significant variations observed over ten year s. The most relevant clinico-epidemiological characteristics are its c lear predominance in women (3:1), and the high frequency of Lofgren's syndrome (48% of cases), whose incidence is significantly higher in sp ringtime.